Tom Shroder

Tom Shroder, editor jefe del Washington Post, investigaba para un reportaje cuando conoció al doctor Stevenson, un prestigioso cirujano cardiovascular que había dedicado cuarenta años a documentar más de dos mil casos de personas que recordaban sus vidas pasadas. Con el fin de conocer de primera mano tanto a los testigos como el metodo de trabajo de este singular investigador, Shroder decidio acompañar a Stevenson en sus viajes por Libano, India y Estados Unidos. A pesar de su escepticismo, Shroder descubrio una realidad que cuestionaba sus principios materialistas, llevandolo a preguntarse sobre la naturaleza de la identidad y la posibilidad de que la conciencia pueda viajar entre cuerpos, una idea respaldada por la fisica cuantica.

The Washington Post Book Clubs October PickOne of Washington Independent Review of Books Favorite Books of 2016A grandson of writer MacKinlay Kantor unravels the tangles of his grandfathers life and finds many of those same threads (the good, the bad, the ugly) in his ownA compelling account, suffused with both sympathy and sharpness, of a writer whos mostly forgotten and of a grandson whos grateful.Kirkus ReviewsAn award-winning veteran of The Washington Post and The Miami Herald, Tom Shroder has made a career of investigative journalism and human-interest stories, from those of children who claim to have memories of past lives, in his book Old Souls, to that of a former Marine suffering from debilitating PTSD and his doctor pioneering a successful psychedelic drug treatment in Acid Test. Shroders most fascinating subject, however, comes from within his own family: his grandfather MacKinlay Kantor was the world-famous author of Andersonville, the seminal novel about the Civil War. As a child, Shroder was in awe of his grandfathers larger-than-life character. Kantors friends included Ernest Hemingway, Carl Sandburg, Gregory Peck, and James Cagney. He was an early mentor to the novelist John D. MacDonald and is credited with discovering the singer Burl Ives. Kantor wrote the novel Glory for Me, which became the multi-Oscar-winning film The Best Years of Our Lives. He ghostwrote General Curtis LeMays memoirs, penning the infamous words Were going to bomb them back into the Stone Age, referring to North Vietnam. Kantor also suffered from alcoholism, an outsize ego, and an abusive and publicly embarrassing personality where his family was concerned; he blew through several small fortunes in his lifetime, and died nearly destitute. In The Most Famous Writer Who Ever Lived, Shroder revisits the pastKantors upbringing, his early life, his career trajectory and writes not just the life story of one man but a meditation on fame, family secrets and legacies, and what is remembered after we are gone.

A book that should start a long-overdue national conversation. Dave Barry With the F.D.A. agreeing to new trials to test MDMA (better known as Ecstasy) as a treatment for PTSDwhich, if approved, could be available as a drug by 2021Acid Test is leading the charge in an evolving conversation about psychedelic drugs. Despite their current illegality, many Americans are already familiar with their effects. Yet while LSD and MDMA have proven extraordinarily effective in treating anxiety disorders such as PTSD, they still remain off-limits to the millions who might benefit from them. Through the stories of three very different men, award-winning journalist Tom Shroder covers the drugs roller-coaster history from their initial reception in the 1950s to the negative stereotypes that persist today. At a moment when popular opinion is rethinking the potential benefits of some illegal drugs, and with new research coming out every day, Acid Test is a fascinating and informative must-read.